


Asunder

by byrdBibliophyle



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Amnesia, F/M, In which the kids are actually In Charge of their aspects, Spacetime schenanigans
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-09
Updated: 2019-07-17
Packaged: 2020-01-06 19:53:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18395243
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/byrdBibliophyle/pseuds/byrdBibliophyle
Summary: Space without Time is frozen. It exists, but without motion, thought, or feeling. Without Space, Time still passes, but who could notice it? In a Void without objects to move and interact, even Time cannot know itself. It exists, purposeless and alone. So, when the gods of Time and Space go their separate ways, all of creation is torn asunder.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This is still a work in progress, meaning there won't be a regular updating schedule. I do have two full chapters written at this point, though, so those should be up relatively shortly. Thanks for reading and happy 10th anniversary!

_“Fine!” “Fine!” Jade crossed her arms, glaring as the door slammed shut behind him. Stupid, lousy coolkid. What did he know? She was the goddess of space! She didn’t need him! She could never talk to him again and she wouldn’t even notice._

_Gritting her teeth in determination, she barely had a moment to register what was happening before the world faded to black._


	2. Chapter 2

Dave groaned as his phone’s alarm blared, poking at the thing until it turned off. He’d find out whether he’d hit ‘off’ or ‘snooze’ later. Dragging himself out of bed, he slipped on his shades and headed for the bathroom. Within a few minutes he was pulling on his shoes and headed out the door.

An eternity later, he was clocking out. Weather reports had been threatening rain all day, but so far all he could see were clouds. The walk home wasn’t long. With any luck it would hold out until he was inside again.

As always, luck was not on his side. Barely a minute had passed before the heavens opened, completely drenching him. Like that wasn’t enough, the wind picked up, practically dragging him down the street. When he reached the corner it suddenly switched directions, making him stumble several steps in the wrong direction. Grumbling, he caught his footing again.

Taking off his rain-speckled shades, he rubbed them on his drenched shirt. Squinting through the resulting streaks, he caught the sign of an unfamiliar building: ‘Temple of Our Lady of the Vast Croak’. He raised an eyebrow at the name. As strange as this cult sounded, the sign was turned to ‘Open’ and the rain was only coming down harder. The wind changed direction again, nearly shoving him toward the door, so with a shrug he gave in. At least if they used him for a blood sacrifice he wouldn’t have to wake up for work in the morning.

He wasn’t sure what he was expecting to be behind the door, but an indoor botanical garden wasn’t it. Flowers, trees, and grasses of all kinds spread out around him, blocking his view of the far wall. He carefully closed the door behind him, then opened and closed it again to make sure it hadn’t locked. Satisfied, he turned around to get a better look at the place. A narrow path meandered through the greenery, disappearing among the trees. Dave wandered to the first bend, then paused to wring out his dripping hoodie into a nearby pot. So far, this place looked well-kept but unoccupied. Since the door was unlocked, though, he doubted the caretaker was far.

The next bend in the path revealed a flickering light ahead. Dave cautiously poked his head around another corner, bracing himself for anything.

Beyond a few rows of benches was an altar surrounded by candles. The statue at the center of it all immediately drew his attention. The figure was somehow familiar, though the dim lighting hid its face from view. He stepped out of his hiding spot, for the first time feeling the holiness of this place. Only his footsteps broke the silence as he strode down the center aisle, eyes locked on what could only be the goddess of this temple.

As he approached, her features slowly came into view. He couldn’t believe the amount of detail the artist had put into the statue. The curve of her shoulders, the angle of her chin, the hard line of her mouth. Dave paused at her feet, staring up at her face. She was beautiful. More than that, she was familiar. A wrinkle formed between Dave’s eyebrows as he tried to pinpoint where he had seen her before. His brother had never been a religious person. No cultist pamphlets or billboards came to mind, he hadn’t seen any door-to-door missionaries in a long time, and he had definitely never visited this room before.

Behind him, someone cleared their throat. Leaping about a foot in the air, Dave whirled around, automatically falling into a combat stance. An elderly priest stood behind the pews, looking amused. Dave huffed, forcing himself to relax. There was no way he was going to give this old man the satisfaction of seeing him ruffled. That's just how he always turned around. Obviously.

“I am glad you are here, Dave!” the priest exclaimed, a laugh in his voice. Something about this guy was familiar too, but Dave couldn’t for the life of him figure out how. It might of had something to do with the square glasses, or the way his salt-and-pepper hair stuck out around the man’s face, or maybe the three buck teeth poking out as he grinned. Somehow the effect was annoying and endearing at the same time. The man continued, “Did you find what you were looking for?”

Dave tucked his hands into his hoodie’s pockets, keeping his face impassive. “Yeah, dude. When I left work I was thinking to myself, ‘You know what I need today? Religion. But not just any religion. I need to join the weirdest fuckin’ cult I can find. Preferably led by some old guy who can read the hella rad invisible name tag I keep on my person at all times. And whaddaya know, this place appeared. Turns out this place makes one hell of an umbrella too.”

The priest sniggered and stepped closer, holding out a hand. “I’m John. Put ‘er there.”

Keeping his eyes on the man’s face, Dave complied, jerking back with a disgusted look as a buzzer sent a shock through his hand. John doubled over with laughter, nearly falling onto a nearby bench. “Oh my God! I finally got you! Maybe this is a good thing after all!”

Dave defensively tucked his hands back into his pockets, watching John with what he hoped looked like passive concern. He was absolutely certain this was his first time meeting the old man, but John acted like he’d known him for years. The guy must be delusional.

Once he finally calmed down, John looked up at Dave again, most of his mirth fading at the look on his face. “That didn’t kick start anything, then? Rose said it might, with electricity and stuff, but…”

Dave raised an eyebrow. This guy was definitely crazy, which meant it was well past time to get the hell out of Dodge. Just as he was about to side step around John, a hand shot out and grabbed his arm. The grip was surprisingly strong for someone who had nearly keeled over from laughing just a minute ago. Dave eyed him suspiciously, a dozen different ways to escape playing through his mind.

“Wait!” John’s demeanor had done a complete 180 in the blink of an eye. “Let’s talk about her instead, okay? She is the important part here, after all! After that you can go, promise.”

Dave stared him down a moment longer, but a glance back at the oddly familiar woman was all it took for him to nod and take a seat. John immediately sat beside him and launched into the most ludicrous tale he’d ever heard. Some video game of death that had something to do with frogs and flying killer dogs and aliens and creating a universe. It made his brain hurt. “So you’re saying,” he cut in after a particularly ridiculous part about time travel, “That this goddess is just a character from some shitty game?”

“Noooooo,” John rolled his eyes, “Are you even listening? She went into the video game!”

“Yeah, whatever dude.” Dave stood up, sparing the statue one last glance before turning away. Like he would be sucked into some weird cult just because they modernized their doctrine for younger crowds using video games. What a joke.

“Look, it’s been real, but I think I’m gonna split before you get to the bit about blood sacrifices. Your hot goddess couldn’t handle bonafide Strider blood. She’d be fainting from the intensity before the knife even hit my heart. The undiluted power will have all the other gods showing up for a taste, and none of them could handle it either. Then you’ll have a whole room full of power-drunk gods sitting on their asses weeping and babbling like little babies, and then where would the world be? Utter chaos will rule the streets as nature itself devolves into pandemonium. Lightning coming from the ground, rocks melting into water, the tundra bursting into flames. The apocalypse’ll arrive and you’d be responsible.” Sauntering into the odd indoor forest, he lifted one hand in a casual wave. “Anyways, later. Enjoy your weird gaming cult or whatever.”

Behind him, he could hear the priest sigh.

 

_The world faded into view, bits and pieces at a time. Her brother, but… old? Empty benches. An unfamiliar garden. And weaving between the leaves, a flash of golden blonde. She wanted to gasp, but found her lungs unresponsive. She tried to reach out, but her muscles were frozen. The world was fading again, and there was nothing she could do to stop it. A single tear slipped down her face, and the last thing she saw was John’s surprised face before everything slipped away._


	3. Chapter 3

Dave’s alarm went off, he rushed through his routine, and dragged himself to work. The walk went by in a half-asleep daze, and he only looked up when he slammed head-first into the building’s front door. Grunting, he rubbed his nose and glared at the offending sheet of glass. Who the hell forgot to unlock this thing? Peering inside, the lack of lights made him frown all the harder. Apparently everyone was late today. The boss wasn’t gonna be pleased.

He glanced down at the clock on his phone and had to do a double-take. He knew for sure he hadn’t even been awake at five a.m., much less arriving at work. The phone’s time zone must have been changed somehow.

Leaning his back against the door, he idly watched the cars pass by. There weren’t nearly as many as there normally were this time of day. Bored, he turned his attention to his phone until the manager finally turned up to unlock the door. The man gave Dave an odd look and asked, “What are you doing here so early? Your shift doesn’t start for another half an hour.”

“What are you talking about? I’m here on time, same as always.” Dave shoved his hands in his pockets, following the manager inside.

“Whatever you say.” The manager shrugged and gestured to the break room. “You can hang out in there while I get stuff set up.”

Dave did as he was asked, glancing at the clock on the wall as he shoved his lunch in the fridge. Five-thirty. That can’t be right. He had left his apartment at five-thirty. He checked his phone again, but it said the same thing as the wall clock. Shaking his head, he checked the microwave clock: five-thirty. Huffing, he sat down at the small table in the center of the room, determined not to let this phase him. If someone had decided to mess with him, there was no way he was giving them the satisfaction of losing his cool.

Luckily, the rest of his shift went smoothly. By the time he was preparing to leave, he was almost ready to call that morning a fluke. Weird things happened sometimes. It was nothing to lose his shit over. He waved a distracted goodbye to his coworkers, burying his nose in his phone as he stepped out onto the— street? The air smelled way too floral for that.

Looking up, he nearly groaned at the sight of a strange indoor garden. How did he end up at that temple again? Without another thought, he turned around and stepped out the door. He was immediately staring at that garden again. Pulse quickening, he tried again with the same result. The spinning was making him dizzy, but he tried one last time, making a dash for the street outside. After nearly barreling into a potted tree, he took a shaky breath and started towards the center of the room instead.

He muttered obscenities under his breath, cursing that particular plant, the trippy doorway, the priest, and the whole room. This time, his feet took him exactly where he thought they should. He took a seat in the back row of benches and rested his head in his hands, struggling to keep his poker face intact.

There was no way he was imagining this stuff. Unless he was stuck in a really weird dream. A quick pinch dispelled that theory in a hurry.

“J—,” he began, looking up, but the moment he saw the goddess’ statue whatever he’d been about to say flew from his mind. In the same moment, the world seemed to settle back into place. He blinked, unable to remember why he had begun to speak at all. Shaking his head, he ran a hand over his face and stood.

The door should work now. He had no idea how he knew, but he did, and when he reached the thing he successfully stepped out onto the street. Turning, he spent a long moment staring back into the temple. There was definitely something wrong with that place. Then and there, he resolved never to go back.

Somehow, he knew that wasn’t going to be true.

 

_This time, it was a sound that woke her. It wasn’t even a word, just the beginning of a letter, but it called to her as surely as if someone had just called her name. She blinked and started to smile, but whoever had made the noise was already gone, barely a rustle in the trees marking their way through the garden. A short sigh managed to escape her. Next time. She’d see him next time. She still wasn’t sure who exactly she meant when the darkness closed in again._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I haven't finished the next chapter yet, so I have no idea when I'll be able to post it. Hopefully it'll be within a month or so, though!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A brief intermission...

“John.”

The old priest turned, grinning at the appearance of his friend. Reaching out, he took her hand to help her step fully into her human form. 

“Rose! I did not think you were coming today!” As soon as her feet were fully on the ground, he pulled her into a hug. Being away from everyone for so long was harder than he’d expected it to be. “It’s good to see you!”

Rose returned his hug for only a moment before gently pushing him back. As much as she shared his sentiment, she hadn’t come here just to visit him. Her serious expression couldn’t last long after seeing his face, though. Lips twitching with the force of holding back her smile, she said, “I see you went with that disguise after all. It’s a miracle you weren’t recognized immediately.”

“He would not recognize me with out a disguise at all.” John snorted as he removed the beaglepuss. The mention of their mutual friend’s condition returned the worried frown to Rose’s face. 

“He is not recovering quickly enough. John, if this continues…” Rose let the consequences hang between them unspoken, but the sudden gravity in John’s expression said he understood.

Even so, there was still a glint of mischief in his eyes when he said, “You should have seen his face when he couldn’t leave. He tried to look all cool and collected, but he just ended up looking constipated!”

Rose snorted and shook her head. “That’s just like him. As much as I wish I could stay and watch, though, I must return soon. As much as our godly companions insist otherwise, with all four of us gone the heavens won’t take long to devolve into chaos.”

“You are leaving already?” John’s face fell. 

“I’m afraid my usefulness lies elsewhere. It was good to see you, John.” Leaning up on her toes, she pressed a quick kiss to his cheek before turning to leave.

John caught her by the shoulder before she could go, pulling her in for another tight hug. “I will bring them both home, Rose, I promise.”

“I know you will.”


End file.
